Should young girls play with dolls that are a reflection of what they look like?

Ludacris’ girlfriend Eudoxie made her way back home to Gabon in Central Africa a couple of days ago, and what should have been her just sharing her acts of charity by giving away toys to the Gabonese kids turned into a criticism of whether or not she should be giving white dolls to African children.

On her Instagram she posted a picture of her Gabonese and American passports, then another with her sister next to a suitcase full of white, blonde dolls helping her pack them up as a charitable donation.

People immediately jumped all up in her comments and even began arguing with each other, with many saying she should have taken black dolls instead to help instill positive images of color for the little girls in Africa. In response, Eudoxie posted:

Anyone trying to tell me what color gifts I should be giving, don’t worry I will give you the chance to do the giving. I’m saving your info and will be contacting you once I get back to receive the black people gifts you will rather I give away in Africa. You will get the chance to show me your giving hearts by sending the gifts to my office in ATL. And make sure all the clothes you wear, the car you drive, the house you live in are BLACK. If you are black everything you wear, drive, drink should be in the color BLACK.

The sad part is, colorism and racism are magnified so much more in America than a lot of other countries, and where Eudoxie is from, she may have never dealt with any of these issues. She more than likely had no idea that a simple photo would draw such a huge response. A few comments were:

I have a beautiful 5 year old daughter and she is struggling with accepting that black girls are just as beautiful as white girls… And I have to keep correcting her.. I have no one to blame but society because this is what society portrays. I love the fact that you are giving back @eudoxiee but in cases like these and in a country like this Race matters and people get upset easily over everything concerning Race so don’t get discourage I know your intentions are pure do your best and God will do the rest.

And:

Wow. As an African raised in London, yep the dolls should defo be black! So many African girls can’t even manage natural hair because it gets relaxed before they even start puberty! But I don’t think endoxie’s actions were intentional more a lack of awareness because she probably doesn’t experience that element of African society nor are enough Africans even aware of the symptoms!

And:

Seriously why do [some people] have to make life so difficult…men don’t treat you bad because you’re [a certain skin tone] they treat you bad because you let them. These dolls are just “barbies” for @eudoxiee little girls and every little girl wants one to play with. They’re fun and imaginative , colour has nothing to do with it. Let kids be kids and take colour of skin out if it … Because it’s the adults that keep this negative tone going! And for the record my daughter has never even mentioned skin colour in her life, thank god for 4 year olds! @eudoxiee keep up the great work!

On the positive side, it was a nice gesture. There aren’t a lot of people that would be thoughtful enough to return to their country baringgifts for the less fortunate.